Dec
24
Breeders’ Cup loses cred if Zenyatta is not Horse of the Year
by Barry Roos
Published: December 24, 2009 27 Comments
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Jerry Moss said it best in the Thoroughbred Times:
“….it is beyond dispute that the Breeders’Cup was designed 25 years ago to determine championships”
I can not agree more. To me, if your horse is physically capable and you don’t compete, you shouldn’t win horse of the year. Period. Imagine a warm weather NFL team refusing to play a game in December because it is too cold in Green Bay? The Breeders’ Cup was at Santa Anita, so the playing field was artificial. Now the connections of Rachel Alexandra had every right to keep her out of the Classic, but she should not be able to take home the ultimate prize. The fact that Rachel ran very well on polytrack makes her case even slimmer. She was kept out only because Curlin lost. Pure and simple. Curlin also lost on the grass. Horses get beat. I would defend them skipping the Breeders’ Cup had Curlin remained in training this year. He didn’t like the surface. Good argument for him, not so much for Rachel.
Giving the Horse of the Year award to Rachel Alexandra, weakens the Breeders’ Cup as does splitting the award. It sets a bad precedent.
Lets keep the Breeders’ Cup what it was designed to be, the World Championships of racing.
Happy holidays to all and a wonderful new year!
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The BC loses credibility when it removes dirt racing.
So if a 3 year old colt wins the Triple Crown, it’s not supposed to matter because a mare stayed in SoCal, beat Lethal Heat with 90 something Beyers, then won a synthetic race against males?
That’s retarded thinking.
Dirt racing still matters in the US and Rachel Alexandra had a SPECTACULAR YEAR, on dirt.
Her last 5 races rank with any 3 old, and that’s going back to the 70′s and Affirmed, seattle Slew and Secretariat.
I agree that the Breeders Cup loses credibility if Zenyatta isn’t horse of the year…. And that’s what the Breeders Cup deserves for inflicting 2 years of synthetics on us. Rachel was the racing world’s biggest story and best ambassador. Two good minutes against the weakest Classic field in years doesn’t change that.
Why is it (gofor_broke) when people with a low IQ disagree they use words like “retarded”? Can’t you make an argument without the classless insults?
The author’s point is that you play where the championships are located. Sometimes you like it, sometimes you don’t. No one is doubting Rachel, just that they didn’t want to play on the biggest stage and therefore should be taken out of the running for HOF.
This could have all been elimintated had Rachel showed up. We will never know who would have won. I suspect Jess Jackson had a pretty good idea and chose to pass and blame the surface. Either way, it was a great year, and a lot of fun to watch.
Ian, stop making this stuff up. The field that Zenyatta destroyed in the Classic was one of the best in years. If you don’t believe me – check out Joe Drape’s article in The New York Times two days ago. Also, RA is biggest story – maybe from spring to early fall – since then she’s been completely and thoroughly dethroned by Zenyatta both by her racetrack accomplishmesnts and her popularity. Have you seen the polls of DRF, BloodHorse, HorseRacingInsider, CBSSports, Sporting News? It’s Zenyatta that is The People’s Horse.
Oh, and by the way, the augment what the author mentions, the official title is Breeders’Cup Worldchampionships
Stop with greatest field nonsense. Jerry Brown of Thorgraph wrote an article after the BC that Rachel Alexandra is 6 lengths faster than Zanyatta, and discussing Zen for HOY is “silly”. His word.
Andy Beyer said on Sirius radio that Rachel Alexandra deserves HOY.
Zenyatta ran 1 Beeyer above 104 in 2009. Much slower Thorograph numbers.
Even on dirt, the BC CLassic wasn’t the whole year.
And these 2 years on synthetics, the 2 winners, Ravens Pass and Zen, will be grouped together.
It lost credibility when they ran it on Pro-Ride for two years in a row, and for that mistake it deserves to lose some of the credibility. Nobody had any trouble determining championships before the Cup, why should it be any different now, because they call themselves the “World Championships”? The DWC is the world championships, not us, the only reason the BC is called that is to pad our own egos. On paper the Classic was w/o a doubt a strong field, and had the Classic been held on dirt where most of the horses were most effective at it would’ve been one of the strongest fields in reality as well. Championships are decided on turf or dirt, that is why Curlin and not Zenyatta won last year, since he competed on dirt in all his winning races. That will also be the same reason why RA will win this year. Also Manny, Curlin was supposedly dethroned last year, and yet when the voting was shown he whipped Zenyatta. Though the voting will be closer this year RA will still prevail.
Andy Beyer. Isn’t he the genius who thought that Zenyatta would not only lose badly in the Classic, but didn’t belong in the Classic?
Yep, it’s the same genius.
Six lengths faster Zenyatta. This is the same horse that had to be whipped over 20x’s down the stretch in the Woodward just to stagger across the finish line. Come on. Rachel Alexander has proven to beat only marginal horses this year.
Oh no. Here comes the argument for the racing surface. I have a question. Why haven’t we heard ANYONE that had ANYTHING to do with the world champion horses that FOLLOWED Zenyatta across the finish line use it as an excuse for losing. And, why haven’t we ANY whinning regarding the racing surface from the other 150-200 horses that competed those two BC days.
Why is it ALWAYS either RA’s connections or RA’s fans that WHINE about the racing surface.
ALWAYS!
LOL Beyer, Brown, wise guys all who gave ZERO chance on Zenyatta winning the Classic with ther bullsht ‘not even in the money’ comedy routine have LOST ALL CREDIBILITY WITH IT COMES TO ZENYATTA’s GREATNESS. Also, look at OVERRATED RACHEL’s WOODWARD. Macho again and Bullsbay ARE LAUGHINGSTOCKS. They were nothing more than claimers in the grade 2 Clark.
Wow, I love the comment the Zenyatta didn’t beat anyone in the Classic, when Rachel beat up on colts like Macho Again and Bullsbay. I don’t know if laughingstocks is appropriate, but truth be told they are Grade 3 types at best, useful if not brilliant. Beyer & Brown’s days have come and gone.
Also, Zenyatta has transcended racing, and the polls prove what she has done for racing.
Lastly, this whole thing would have been avoided had JJ not taken such a babyish stand. The race would have proven Zenyatta was the best. Rachel would have just been another horse fading in Zenyatta’s wake.
Grade 3 describes Gio Ponte on synthetics. That’s his only win on that surface. The horses 3rd and 4th in the race had never run on the surface.
On synthetics the Classic is a race where grass horses go to run away from Conduit and Goldikova.
It’s not where championships are won, or Ravens Pass would have one.
Most people who are in the know in the racing world know that Zenyatta has truly proved to be a race horse. She ran the classic distance for the FIRST time in her career and WON,(Rachel has never run 1 1/4 and from the look of things, might not be able)
Zenyatta carried major weight this year 129 pounds giving 16 pounds to her rivals and won (makes no difference who a horse runs against when it comes to major weight give away, they can lose! Trainers always mention that fact)Rachel’s races were carefully decided to avoid any weight gain. Even though she beat the males on 3 times, she never had to race against them with added weight.
Zenyatta ran in two different class BC events and won them both!The only filly or mare to do that, The first filly/mare to win the BC Classic as well in a very thrilling race where she looked helplessly beaten. Rachel has never raced in any BC race.By the way, Rachel won at Keeneland which last I looked they have synthetics. So Jess even looks more ridiculous for not running in the BC this year.
The Beyer question is silly. Everyone knows that synthetics do not always show speed figures the same as dirt… and who cares? What do speed figures have to do with greatness? Some speed figures increase with the use of lasix as it eliminates water weight among other things.
For someone to say this BC Classic field was weak…oops… RA ran against some of the same horses. That Saratoga field was horrible… and without that constant whipping she would have lost. She was a staggering filly coming back and could have died from exhaustion it was pathetic to see…and if something had happened after that race, what would you all have been saying about the “wonderful” Jess Jackson then? Those boys in that race just beat up on each other prior to that race and haven’t won a race since their last one… which was??
Bullsbay was no where in his BC race, yet he HAS won on synthetics before. This synthetic controversy in some cases is the fact that some gamblers have difficulty handicapping races run on it not the surface itself.
RA also ran a stakes race against 2 or 3 other fillys… that is not a true gauge. RA never carried over 121 pounds and she was a January foal which made her older than some of her 3 year old counterparts male or female.
It will be a joke if Zenyatta loses HOTY as she truly deserves it. Why run against the boys 3 times when you can beat the best the world has to offer once which in her case was the Classic. Some of the horses Zenyatta beat in this race might win eclipse awards themselves for their 2009 accomplishments.
Those of us that have seen these two in person already know who would win if they competed between each other and it would be: Zenyatta, Zenyatta, Zenyatta!
Go blame Jackson all you want, the man did what was best for his horse. The BCC lost its credibility all on its own by hosting the event at the same track in consecutive years, and then installing it’s ridiculous “win and you’re in” campaign. The BC has made it so a horse only has to win one of their campaign races for them to run in the “championships”. That simply is not how it’s done. Ironic how the industry had no problem deciding HOY long before the BCC came along, and it was done in a more agreed upon fashion than is done now.
Sorry BCC, but the bleeding in your foot is from a self-inflicted shot.
Nancy: Why was this in the best interest of the horse? She ran great on the artificial surface at Keeneland. I was there that day and she skipped over the polytrack. What he did is blow the chance to prove she was the best horse and horse of the year. I think he is just sour grapes for Curlin losing.
Winning a race in the Breeders’ Cup is not mandatory for winning an Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year. Holy Bull did not run in the Classic in 1994 and won. And, it looks like Kodiak Kowboy will also win champion sprinter after not competing in the Breeders’ Cup. Where is it written that a horse has to compete in the Breeders’ Cup to win an Eclipse Award? Many horses have not run in the Breeders’ Cup due to not being nominated and paying a fee when first born. Others have declined when not nominated because of the extremely high cost to enter. Winning one race does not make a champion. It’s the whole year’s performance that seals the deal.
Looking at Rachel Alexandra’s 2009 racing feats, you can’t state that she didn’t have a more impressive year than Zenyatta. First of all, Rachel is a 3-yr-old filly. To accomplished what she did as a 3-yr-old filly, we’ll probably NEVER see again. She won 8 times compared to Z’s 5 times. She took on males (same age and older) three times and won. She demolished her age-group fillies by 20 lengths in two races. Rachel ran on 7 different tracks in 6 different states. She took it to her competition, always leading by the time they reached the 6F pole.
You have to compare accomplishments within 2009, and not over a career, and certainly not for one race that discriminates due to money paid for the privilege of running in the Breeders’ Cup.
Viva la Rachel!
Sandra – Had RA gotten hurt, or had any excuse not to run in the classic I would agree it would not be mandatory for her to win. But her connections chose not to run because they were upset Curlin lost. Silly as they are such different runners. He a big plodding sort who was only fair on turf and not too great on the artificial surfaces. NOT true of RA. I too was in attendance at Keeneland and Rachel relished the artificial racetrack even at a distance she didn’t prefer. I watched her cool out that day and she acted as if she had gone for a stroll in the park. She was exceptional on polytrack. She should have run in the Classic and in your mind she would have won. I doubt she could have held off Zenyatta. But we will never know. Bummer as they robbed RA of the chance to prove she was not only brilliant but the best filly ever.
Zenyatta beat the best of the best so that makes her horse of the year. RA is a great filly but her owners chose not to run her against Zenyatta and all the other AMAZING boys so that is why she is horse of the year. She simply is the BEST!
HORSE OF THE YEAR AND THE DECADE ZENYATTA!!!
Oh please. Awesome Again went undefeated and beat the best BC Classic field and didn’t win HOY! Did you scream then?? What about Tiznow? Pleasantly Perfect and a ton of others? HOY is not who wins the BC Classic. Ok so HOY is a one race deal HA. Yeah show me your Awesome Again debate? Zen faces the same overmatched girls all year and travels nowhere and then wins one race over turf horses. Ha yeah greeaatt.
“Zenyatta Horse of the Decade!” Yeah I’m guessing you never saw Ghostzapper or how fast he was. Zenyatta no way HOTD.
Ducked synthetics for no reason? HAHA yeah as stated by real racing fans. World class dirt horses going to synthetic BC races are…….0-43!!! Yup,real fair. Come on guys,we know why Zenyattas connections stayed in Cali and why she ran in a turf/dirt track over bad horses and turf horses in the BC. Who’d she beat RVW a bad foot horse? Summer Bird who RA destroyed? Gio Ponti a TURF HORSE? Cmon.
Look up Ravens Pass trainers comments if you want,”We would have not run in BC against Curlin,if the BC was at a dirt track” We all love how West coast fans just ignore everything.
Is Zenyatta a good horse. YES of course but HOY or took on all or top fields? WOW NO WAY.
Mike
HOY should be determined by one race if you have 2 equally deserving candidates. In this case either horse was deserving but one didn’t show up. and I would say rachel is a good horse on synthetics so it is hard to defend the decision. Why is it that people who prefer traditional dirt surfaces are so angry. And what is a “real racing fan”? I have been going to the races for 52 years. I enjoy racing on dirt, turf and synthetics. Real fans enjoy racing anywhere and everywhere. Truthfully the English use to say dirt racing was not “real” racing.
Do something about your anger. Life is short and racing should be fun.
~Floyd
Well said Floyd, racing should be fun. I don’t know how where the anger comes from on the part of the “non-synthetic” lobby. It is like people can’t accept the fact that synthetics are here to stay and a part of the business now. This was a very fun year in our sport, and the debate over Zenyatta and Rachel will go on forever. Especially should the eclipse voters not have the guts to pick one over the other. My sources say tie, so the debate will rage on….
Mike you dont seem to enjoy horse racing at all and your anger will eat you up. We are all having fun with this and have our picks. I dont know how you could ever say anything bad about Zenyatta and and thank God we had her to watch this year. Rachel was great too but there is nothing like Zenyatta. and yes I have seen GhostZapper run I was at the Breeders cup at lone star and saw him there up close!
I love both of these horses, they are beautiful, gentle animals. But this has always been a easy descision for me. There really is no comparison to their 2009 seasons. Also there was never a reason for a co-horse of the year award instead. To do that would take away from how historic 2009 really was for the sport of horse racing.
We are talking about both of the horses because we are fortunate enough to witness what is going on now. But history will remember them differently. They will both be remembered but Rachel will be mentioned more because of how much history she made in 2009 as a 3 year old. The records she broke and her margin of victories in different races will continue to be a part of the discussion.
I have never followed horse racing until Rachel Alexandra. I had never heard of any of these horses including Zenyatta before being drawn in by Rachel in 2009. Even then I did not hear about Zenyatta right away. But before 2009 there was a horse that I heard of & that was Secreteriate. I also heard of Sea Biscuit because of the movie. There have been obviously several other great horses throughout the years but only the horses that clearly make history in a bold way are the ones who cross over to people like me who never watched this sport.
That is what Rachel Alexandra has. Her 2009 campaign cannot be touched by any other horse. When you only make history in 1 race of the year when another horse makes history in almost every single race that they ran in that is like compairing the Purple Rain Album to the Thriller Album. While both were great albums one cleary did more than the other. One cleary made history that is constantly a part of the conversation.
Zenyatta is Purple Rain & Rachel Alexandra is Thriller.
Ok Diana. People running off on Zenyatta and taking away from RA. But I say RA and what satnds against Zenyatta and, “I dont enjoy racing.” HAH OK. I love racing,the horses and the award!
RACHEL ALEXANDER HOY!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!
A travesty.
They got it right. I am so glad that people could set aside their feelings as to who their favorite horse is & vote for what they did on the race track. Even a blind man can see that Rachel deserved to win. Now it really would have been a travesty if Zenyatta had won based on her 2009 campaign.